I’ve been reading some true-crime cases about rich society people and crime and these are around 1870 - 1920.
A bunch typically have a woman who wants to be an opera singer and she finds a patron, to “sponsor” her studies, usually in Paris or New York.
Or other things too, like a poet or a writer etc.
What exactly was the arrangement? Did the sponsor get something from the patron? My first thought was sex, but a lot of the sponsors seem to old ladies, (well maybe?) but it doesn’t seem like that was always the case.
Still I find it hard to think someone just says “OK I’ll cover your living expenses in Paris for three years while you write a poem or learn to sing opera.” Did they get a percentage of that person’s earnings or something?